2-cycle oil might work, but Diesel is $2.75/gallon.

The 4-2-1 Diesel-naphtha-IPA recipe has a final viscosity very close to original Sea Foam, which hopefully means it has similar lubricating ability. Other than that, it is difficult to say how well it lubricates without doing some very expensive or time consuming lubricant tests. You would also need to quantify how well original Sea Foam lubricates for comparison. Lubrication is somewhat of a relative term here. Sea Foam is thinner than any engine oil I have seen because it was designed for different purposes. Kerosene is used as a cutting oil and Diesel fuel is thicker than that, so I would say it has lubricant ability.

 

Just some interesting reading that I found:


"The lubricity of diesel fuel can vary dramatically. It is dependent on a wide variety of factors, which include the crude oil source from which the fuel was produced, the refining processes used to produce the fuel, how the fuel has been handled throughout the distribution chain, and the inclusion of lubricity enhancing additives whether alone or in a package with other performance enhancing additives. Typically, Number 1 diesel fuel (commonly referred to as kerosene), which is used in colder climates, has poorer lubricity than Number 2 diesel fuel."

http://www.biodiesel.org/pdf_files/f.../Lubricity.PDF




"The need for diesel fuel lubricity has been recognized for many years. Most early concern focused on the use of #1 diesel fuel in place of #2 diesel fuel under cold weather conditions. Higher wear rates with #1 diesel fuel would be aggravated by #1 diesel fuel's lower viscosity. However, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated that the sulfur content of on-highway diesel fuel be lowered from 5000 ppm to 500 ppm in 1993, fuel lubricity captured national attention. There is still disagreement about what specific fuel changes are caused by the sulfur reduction that result in lubricity reduction. Some have suggested that sulfur compounds themselves provide lubricity, others have suggested that nitrogen compounds or naphthenic hydrocarbons are responsible. In any case, there is general agreement that the hydrotreating process used by petroleum refineries to remove sulfur results in lower fuel lubricity. Recent regulations by the EPA to further lower the sulfur content of diesel fuel to 15 ppm are expected to make the fuel lubricity even worse.

The addition of small amounts of biodiesel (0.25% to 2%) to diesel fuel has a dramatic effect on the lubricity of that fuel. Pure biodiesel and high level blends have excellent lubricity."

Biological & Agricultural Engine

 

There's some good info in those links. Thanks.

I found this great document: http://www.metalwebnews.org/ftp/lube.pdf
NAVAL SHIPS’ TECHNICAL MANUAL
CHAPTER 262
LUBRICATING OILS,
GREASES, SPECIALTY
LUBRICANTS, AND
LUBRICATION SYSTEMS

PDF page 11 states: "The most important physical property of a lubricant is its viscosity. Viscosity, which may be defined as a fluid’s resistance to flow, is the characteristic most frequently stipulated by equipment manufacturers when making lubricant recommendations. The selection of proper lubricant viscosity is often a compromise between selecting one high enough to prevent metal to metal (wear) contact, and one low enough to allow sufficient heat dissipation."

So, matching the original Sea Foam viscosity should come close to matching the lubricating ability since this is the most important property. It was nice to find this bit of reinforcement for my testing method.

 

Just a question...... Why use diesel fuel when putting it in the tank? Why not just dump the rest of the stuff in.

Also talking about the alcohol content- You'd hate to see what ethanol/bio does to seals. I've "heard through the grape vine" that it'll etch concrete.

 

If the goal is to duplicate Sea Foam, the Diesel component or some other "pale oil" is necessary to bring the viscosity up. The added lubrication in a gasoline fuel system should function as an upper cylinder and fuel pump lubricant. The Diesel component would likely have no effect when used in the fuel system of Diesel engines. However, the Diesel component will have an effect when the mixture is inducted into the intake manifold, added to the crankcase, or added to a transmission.

Normal non-E85 pump gasoline contains up to 10% ethanol already, so I'm certainly not worried about its effect on most gasoline fuel system components. Adding a solution that is roughly 1/7 alcohol at 1oz/gallon (fuel) or 1oz/quart (oil) results in very low overall concentrations. For example: 1/7 * 1/128 = 1/896 in fuel or 1/7 * 1/32 = 1/224 in oil. Both result in the final alcohol concentration being lower than 1%. Also, I do not plan to use this at every fill up or run it in my crankcase constantly, so I am not worried about this aspect of it. Alcohol does not eat metal, glass, plastic, or concrete and it only damages some types of rubber seals when the concentration is high enough.

Sea Foam contains isopropyl alcohol and the official FAQs say that it is safe in gasoline and Diesel fuel systems and crankcases when used as directed.

 

Thanks!! An interesting read indeed.

 

I did some reading and it seems that gasoline and naphtha are pretty similar in terms of density and average number of carbon atoms per hydrocarbon molecule. I just did another experiment using 2 parts Diesel and 1 part gasoline, skipped the IPA drying agent, and the results were surprising.


My page has been updated: Homebrew Sea Foam (SeaFoam) Motor Treatment

 

With your latest formula, you may not need the IPA as the ethanol in the gasoline is already hygroscopic.

 

good thing you said it before me.

 

subscribed for interest

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